In Kirtland, Joseph Smith set up an illegal bank that ultimately failed and caused many of the saints to lose their money. There is also evidence showing that Joseph intentionally misrepresented the solvency of his institution.

Rather than translating with Divine help, evidence supports that Joseph Smith plagiarized a significant portion of the Book of Mormon from the Bible, Ethan Smith’s View of the Hebrews and other books contemporary to Joseph’s time.

Joseph Smith taught that one of the tests of whether a revelation was really from God was its consistency with previous revelations: if it contradicted previous revelations, it was not from God. Many of his revelations, and the revelations of many of his successor prophets, have indeed contradicted previous revelations.

In the official version of Joseph Smith's "first vision" he states that it occurred in 1820 as a result of his being moved by a large religious revival in the area to wonder which church was the true church. There was no such religious revival in the area between 1817 and 1824. This throws doubt on the entire chronology of events as depicted by Joseph Smith

Mormons believe that Adam and Eve were the first human beings on earth. This contradicts all scientific evidence showing that there have been humans for many thousands of years before the traditional time for Adam.

Brigham Young wrote a letter to Bishop Warren Snow of Manti, approving of violent actions taken by Snow. The Bishop had castrated a young man who was courting a woman Snow wanted to take as his own plural wife.

Brigham Young, in all his sermons, mentions nothing about Joseph Smith's "first vision." In one of his few references to the visionary beginnings of Mormonism he asserts that God did not appear to Joseph Smith, but rather sent an angel.

The Church allowed an adulterer, Richard Lyman, to serve as an apostle for 18 years before excommunicating him. Although it appears that fellow members of the quorum did not know about Lyman's adultery, these "prophets, seers, and revelators" should have had the spirit of discernment to know of Lyman's unworthiness.

Doctrine & Covenants 121:36 teaches that "the rights of the priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven", and can be "handled only upon the principles of righteousness." Given this fact, ordinances performed unrighteously (such as those by Apostle Lyman for 18 years) should not be acceptable in the eyes of God or the Church. However, such ordinances are rarely, if ever, re-performed.

The official change of the Word of Wisdom from principle to requirement came with no claim of Divine instruction. On the contrary, the shift seems to have taken place for political reasons surrounding Prohibition and desire for mainstream Christian acceptance.

Despite being "lay clergy", mission presidents receive a significant amount of financial benefits from the Church. What is more disturbing, however, is that these leaders are explicitly told not to disclose information on funds received, even to tax advisers or the government.

The Church historically lied and presently still lies in telling the membership and outside media that polygamy ended in 1890. In actuality, Church-sanctioned and performed plural marriages continued until 1904 and beyond.

Until 1990, the temple ceremony contained violent penalties requiring members to make symbolic gestures of slitting their own throats and bowels. Recent Church leaders have been dishonest about these penalties. The removal of these penalties, among other changes, came not by revelation but as a result of a 1988 survey that found that many members were uncomfortable with the endowment.

The 12th article of Faith states that "we believe in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law." One way in which the Church ignores its own counsel is by baptizing illegal immigrants, and even giving them leadership callings.

The Church has knowingly allowed and at times encouraged unethical missionary recruiting practices including baseball baptisms in the U.K. and soccer baptisms in Latin America. On my own personal mission missionaries would make up names, promise kids they get to go swimming, and give them cakes if they got baptized.

Despite overwhelming evidence of racism in the early modern Church, leaders continue to claim that the reason for the priesthood ban is unknown. As such, the Church has never admitted error or apologized for excluding blacks from the priesthood.

The Church relies on FAIR, FARMS and other apologists to defend the faith, but intentionally keeps some distance in order to maintain plausible deniability.

When Mormon leaders announced in 1890 that the practice of plural marriage was ended, it was a lie. Church officials continued secretly to perform plural marriages and to enter into them for about sixteen years.

Many Mormons assert that the reason polygamy was practiced in early Utah was because there were not enough men to provide husbands for worthy women. This is historically false - Utah census records for the 19th century show that Utah had a considerable excess of men.

Mormons teach that a rape victim has "lost her chastity"; a woman should fight off her attacker or be killed in the attempt. Thus, young Mormon women are taught that their chastity is more valuable than their life. The result is that a Mormon woman who survives a rape is made to feel guilty, and is thus victimized again, this time by her church.

Claim: Joseph Fielding Smith ripped out the pages about the 1st vision and placed them in his personal safe sometime after 1921. Then later when rumors about another version of the first vision started appearing, Smith returned them to the historic "letterbook 1" that dates beginning in 1832 for Paul Cheesman to "discover" to use for his master's degree thesis. The damage is clear.

Since 1950, every 3.5 years the percentage of world population that is Mormon raises .01%

To reach the current Catholic 17% percentage of world population, it will take 5,950 years, or be the year 7963.

DNA evidence shows that Native Americans do not come from Middle Eastern heritage. Recently, the Church changed its claim that "the Lamanites are the principal ancestors of the American Indians" to the Lamanites "are among the ancestors of the American Indians".

The King James version errors of the Bible are the same in the Book of Mormon.

Mormon scripture (D&C 84:86, 91) says that true missionaries from God will not rely on their own money or supplies ("purse or scrip") for support, and this will be a test to distinguish them from false missionaries. Modern Mormon missionaries now rely on themselves for support; i.e., they do "carry purse [and] scrip."

The Book of Mormon portrays Lehi as a devout Israelite (a prophet), but he is completely ignorant of which tribe he belongs to (1 Nephi 5:14-16). This would be extremely unlikely.

The Apostle Paul said that a deacon should be married and the head of a household. But most Mormon deacons are boys only twelve to fourteen years old.

The D&C says (116, also 78:15 and 107:53-57) that the Garden of Eden was in Missouri, but the Book of Moses (PoGP, supposedly written by the prophet Moses, 3:10-16) says it was near the River Euphrates, which to Moses and his hearers meant the river in present-day Iraq.

The Book of Mormon says that one must be saved in this life - after you die, it's too late (Alma 34:32-35). But Mormons spend much time and effort in baptizing dead non-Mormons in proxy ceremonies so that they can be saved in the afterlife.

The one prayer which Jesus commanded his disciples to use (the "Lord's Prayer") is almost never used by Mormons.

The "Word of Wisdom" (D&C 89:8) recommends using tobacco as a poultice for bruises, and for sick cattle. This has no medical basis in fact.

Mormons believe that marriages performed in a Mormon temple are for "time and all eternity" - that is, the couple will be in a married state in heaven. But Jesus said that this is a false idea - there is no married state in heaven (Matt 22:23-30, Mark 12:18-25, Luke 20:27-36).

The Book of Mormon (Jacob 2:24) says that God considered the multiple wives of David and Solomon to be an "abomination." But the D&C (132:38-39) says that it was not wrong.

Mormons claim that their church is patterned after the early church of Jesus' apostles, but there are major differences.

Joseph Smith claimed to have seen in vision both the prophet Elijah and the prophet Elias (D&C 27:6-9). He apparently was unaware that in the Bible those two names refer to only one prophet (one is the Hebrew version of the name, the other Greek).

According to Mormon scripture (D&C 84:19-22) no man can see God unless he has the Melchizedek priesthood. This revelation was given in 1832. The priesthood was supposedly restored at some unknown date in 1829 or 1830. But Joseph Smith claimed in the 1830s to have seen God in 1820, long before he received the priesthood.

Numerous Bible passages (Ex 28-31; Num 3:7; Neh 7:63,65; Heb 7:12-14) clearly say that only Levites can offer sacrifices. No Levites are mentioned as accompanying Lehi from Jerusalem. Yet according to the Book of Mormon, sacrifices were offered by Lehi (1 Nephi 5:9) and his descendants (Mosiah 2:3). By what authority, then?

The Book of Mormon frequently condemns secret "combinations" (societies) and the taking of oaths of secrecy. Yet an essential part of the Mormon temple's endowment ceremony is an emphasis on the secrecy of the oaths taken during the ritual and its other details.

The Book of Mormon began with a monotheistic perspective. Hundreds of changes were added at the first revision to replace "God" with "Son of God." It appears that Smith failed to complete the search and replace operation, as their are many verses remaining in the Book of Mormon that are trinitarian in nature. "And the honor be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, which is one God" -Statement from the 3 witnesses

The Lord will never permit me or any other man who stands as president of this Church to lead you astray." - Wilford Woodruff (members say mistakes in the past were because they were 'just men')

"I have never preached a sermon and sent it out to the children of men, that they may not call scripture." - Brigham Young (Despite this prophetic utterance, later church leaders have dismissed as non-scriptural the Journal of Discourses, from which this quote and many other of Brigham's teachings come.)

"If your children are taught untruths on evolution in the public schools or even in our Church schools, provide them with a copy of President Joseph Fielding Smith's excellent rebuttal in his book Man, His Origin and Destiny." - Ezra Benson

"There is a reason why one man is born black and with other disadvantages, while another is born white with great advantages. The reason is that we once had an estate before we came here, and were obedient, more or less, to the laws that were given us there. Those who were faithful in all things there received greater blessings here, and those who were not faithful received less." - Joseph Smith Doctrines of Salvation, volume 1, page 61.

And when I am far on the road to conviction, and eight men, be they grammatical or otherwise, come forward and tell me that they have seen the plates too; and not only seen those plates but “hefted” them, I am convinced. I could not feel more satisfied and at rest if the entire Whitmer family had testified. - Mark Twain

“The truth is not uplifting; it destroys. Historians should tell only that part of the truth that is inspiring and uplifting.” -B. K. Packer

Larry King: Do you condemn polygamy? "I condemn it. Yes, as a practice, because I think it is not doctrinal." -Gordon B. Hinckley (We still have Doctrine & Covenants 132 canonized. We're still practicing plural marriage in the Temples. Apostles Elder Oaks and Elder Nelson are modern examples of LDS polygamists in that they're sealed to multiple women.)

On whether his church still holds that God the Father was once a man, Hinckley sounded uncertain, "I don't know that we teach it." (I don't know is not a good answer from a Prophet...)

About disclosing how tithing is being spent: "Well, we simply think that the…that information belongs to those who made the contribution, and not to the world." - Gordon B. Hinckley (No members have access to this information!)

""The best thing you can do for a single frustrated women... Is work on the Man" - Elder Oaks

“If we have the truth, it cannot be harmed by investigation. If we have not the truth, it ought to be harmed.” - J. Reuben Clark

"If a faith will not bear to be investigated: if its preachers and professors are afraid to have it examined, their foundation must be very weak." - George Albert Smith

"Well, it's either true or false. If it's false, we're engaged in a great fraud. If it's true, it's the most important thing in the world. Now, that's the whole picture. It is either right or wrong, true or false, fraudulent or true. And that's exactly where we stand..." Gordon B. Hinckley

"I think a full, free talk is frequently of great use; we want nothing secret nor underhanded, and I for one want no association with things that cannot be talked about and will not bear investigation." - John Taylor

"Convince us of our errors of Doctrine, if we have any, by reason, by logical arguments, or by the Word of God and we will ever be grateful for the information and you will ever have the pleasing reflections that you have been instruments in the hands of God of redeeming your fellow beings." -Orson Pratt

If intense pressure is used to dissuade people who wish to talk with former members or critics, it is a clear sign of information control. Controlling information is one of the most essential components of mind control.” -Steven Hassan, Mental Health Counselor specializing in recovery from mind control cults for over 30 years

“For faith, as well intentioned as it may be, must be built on facts, not fiction --- faith in fiction is a damnable false hope.” - Thomas Edison

"If you are comfortable with a lie, you will never look for the truth." - Anon

"Think of how many religions attempt to validate themselves with prophecy. Think of how many people rely on these prophecies, however vague, however unfulfilled, to support or prop up their beliefs. Yet has there ever been a religion with the prophetic accuracy and reliability of science? There isn't a religion on the planet that doesn't long for a comparable ability - precise, and repeatedly demonstrated before committed skeptics - to foretell future events. No other human institution comes close." - Carl Sagan

“None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.” ― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

"When I became convinced that the universe is natural—that all the ghosts and gods are myths, there entered into my brain, into my soul, into every drop of my blood, the sense, the feeling, the joy of freedom. The walls of my prison crumbled and fell, the dungeon was flooded with light, and all the bolts, and bars, and manacles became dust." -Robert G. Ingersoll

"It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts." - Sherlock Holmes

The problem with ideology is it gives you the answer before you look at the evidence. So you have to mold the evidence to get the answer you've already decided you've got to have. - Bill Clinton

"Smart people believe weird things because they are skilled at defending beliefs they arrived at for non-smart reasons." - Michael Shermer

All scientific work is incomplete – whether it be observational or experimental. All scientific work is liable to be upset or modified by advancing knowledge. That does not confer upon us a freedom to ignore the knowledge we already have, or to postpone the action that it appears to demand at a given time. Who knows, asked Robert Browning, but the world may end tonight? True, but on available evidence most of us make ready to commute on 8:30 the next day. - Sir Austin Bradford Hill

Truth is beautiful, without doubt; but so are lies. -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Once we take ownership of an idea - whether it's about politics or sports - what do we do? We love it perhaps more than we should. We prize it more than it is worth. And most frequently, we have trouble letting go of it because we can't stand the idea of its loss. What are we left with then? An ideology - rigid and unyielding. - Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely

“There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments, and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance - that principle is contempt prior to investigation.” - William Paley (Question all answers)

Infidelity does not consist in believing, or in disbelieving; it consists in professing to believe what one does not believe. It is impossible to calculate the moral mischief, if I may so express it, that mental lying has produced in society. When man has so far corrupted and prostituted the chastity of his mind, as to subscribe his professional belief to things he does not believe, he has prepared himself for the commission of every other crime. - Thomas Paine

The chief difficulty I see in the sceptical movement is in its polarization: Us vs. Them – the sense that we have a monopoly on the truth; that those other people who believe all these stupid doctrines are morons. - Carl Sagan

"Morality is doing what is right, no matter what you are told. Religion is doing what you are told, no matter what is right." - Larry Mundinger

The skeptic does not mean him who doubts, but him who investigates or researches, as opposed to him who asserts and thinks that he has found. - Miguel de Unamuno

The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance - it is the illusion of knowledge." -Daniel J. Boorstin

"I'm sure you believe the church is true, but I have a different method of determining truth than you. I've learned to trust facts and evidence over what I want to be true just because it feels good. And this is what the evidence leads me to believe. If you want to disregard evidence because that's not how you find truth, you can, and I will disregard your testimony for the same reason."

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comments

Thank you so much for the time and energy it took for this excellent and SUPPORTED research.

I was an "investigator" after two Mormon Missionaries came knocking and wanted to look into their claims myself because it all sounded just a little too neat . . . an answer for everything and it always seems to come from the Book of Mormon on the toughest questions, not the Bible.

Anyway, part of my "investigation" led me to this website and I can say now, without hesitation, "Thanks, but NO thanks!"

Brig, as a seminary graduate and former ward missionary, I testify that the vast majority of these items are true. I witness to you that I became much happier and more successful after leaving the church. I invite you to look up the definition of frisson, and to read testimonies from other religions. Mormonism is not only a fraud, but at its core, it's not even particularly unique or inspiring.